A hospital called in the bailiffs to claw back £1million from doctors and nurses it overpaid by mistake.

One staff member got an extra £126,000 because of an admin ­blunder by the payroll department.

But others affected included ­nurses with a pay freeze on £25,000-a-year who faced losing possessions unless they coughed up the cash.

An investigation in the Health Service Journal revealed some staff had even told bosses of the mistake. A source said: “I know people who were overpaid from 1999 who told payroll but kept on being paid.”

The Royal College of Nursing said the move by Barts and London NHS Trust – currently making job and budget cuts – showed that ­managers care little for staff.

Chief executive Dr Peter Carter said: “It’s very worrying. It gives the NHS a bad name and points to a wider malaise.

“Nurses don’t get the same pay cheque every month. If you work weekends or nights you get different rates of pay so a ­variation of a few pounds would not necessarily be that obvious.

“The trust should make it clear to the individual and say what is the most sensible way to repay this. Debt collectors are highly inappropriate.”

Barts and London said it pursued all overpayments but was testing a new system to prevent similar mistakes happening in future.

Of the £1million accidentally paid out, £275,580 remains outstanding, according to a Freedom of Information request.